COUGAR REWILDING'S Chris Spatz gave "two thumbs up" to the CHICAGO TRIBUNE for it's recent editorial that called for an evolved Carnivore Management Policy across the USA,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,A Policy that would STOP THE SHOOT AND KILL PARADIGM that is now the practice of virtually every State Dept. of Conservation(save California).............Instead of "kneejerking" to the excuse that a Puma or Wolf encountered in their state(where there is not current breeding population) is a menance to human safety and therefore the "bullet to the brain" is "of course ok" to employ on the animal,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,the new policy would be to live and let live except if there is truly an imminent attack on a person...............Anotherwards, if a Puma is hiding in a drain pipe or sitting in a tree, you do not kill it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,If the animal is near a school or a neighborhood, you tranquilize and move it to a more remote and rugged area and let it be on it's way...................THANK YOU MR. CHRIS FOR PROVIDING THIS INFLUENTIAL NEWSPAPER POSITIVE REINFOCEMENT AND KUDOS..............PERHAPS OTHER MEMBERs OF THE PRINT, BROADCAST, CABLE AND INTERNET MEDIA COMMUNITY WILL TAKE NOTICE AND ALSO BEGIN TO EDUCATE THE FOLKS RATHER THAN CONSTANTLY SCARING THEM WITH REPORTS OF 'BEAR ATTACK", "WILD MOUNTAIN LION ON THE LOOSE" AND "VISCIOUS WOLF LOOSE NEAR SCHOOL" TYPE NEWS STORIES

http://fw.to/SFsAyhC

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Voice of the People, Dec. 07

Wild cougars

Thank you to the Tribune editorial board for the sane and humane editorial ("The cougar was looking for love," Nov. 26). You got it right, except ...

A female cougar has yet to reach a Midwestern state east of prairie habitat in 25 years of male cougars' dispersal east, as females stay much closer to their natal range in southwestern South Dakota and other western lands. That's why we see young male cougars traveling hundreds of miles, looking for females that aren't there.

The chances of establishing breeding in the Midwest are dropping each year as both Wyoming and South Dakota continue to pound the Black Hills source population, as Nebraska launches an inaugural hunt, and as year-round unlimited kill-zones have been established across the northern prairies east of the source colonies.

Regardless, cougars need protection in Illinois. The Cougar Rewilding Foundation has professional cougar researchers on our staff who teach first-responder training for situations like what occurred in Morrison, Ill. It's a course we hope to bring to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to stop killings like these.

— Christopher Spatz, president, Cougar Rewilding Foundation, Rosendale, N.Y